TUNGATE WINS ROUND 1 OF AUSTRALIAN TITLE

With riders virtually four abreast coming out of the last corner of the first lap, Tungate made a lightning move down the main straight to take the lead and go on to score victory ahead of Masters, Fricke and Kurtz.

“I thought I chose the wrong starting position,” Tungate said at the presentation ceremony.

“This is an even bunch of riders so you can’t afford to make the slightest mistake.

“It worked out well and now I need to keep it going.”

Tungate is riding the crest of a wave of success in the current Australian summer of Speedway.

He captured his first ever State Speedway Championship with victory in the South Australian title at Gillman Speedway, then on Boxing Day he won the annual Jason Crump Invitational at Kurri Kurri Speedway, making it three consecutive event victories.

Masters, who finished second overall in last year’s Australian Title, was pleased with his second place in the main event.

“I didn’t do well in my first couple of rides, but the crew found a fuel problem and we finished the racing strongly,” he said.

“Everyone’s trying to win and you’ve got to make sure to get into the A Final at each round.”

Local rider Justin Sedgmen had a reasoanble night finishing with 10 points but a nasty crash in his 4th ride took the wind out of his sails on a assualt on the final. Sedgmen added “It was a tough night for me persoanlly i felt like i was fast but having that crash in my 4th ride cost me”.

Other local riders Brodie Waters, Jordan Stewart and Cooper Riordan all rode well and picked up some handy points during the night and gaining valuable experience.

Tungate goes into the second round of the four round Championship series to be held at Undera, Victoria on Wednesday night as the Championship leader with 18 points, Masters and Fricke share second place on 15 points with Kurtz in fourth place in the standings on 11 points. The Final round of the championship is here at Olympic Park Speedway this sunday night January the 10th.